A Bureau of Statistics employee from Belconnen and a National Australia Bank staff member in Melbourne have been arrested in a federal police sting operation over alleged insider trading worth $7 million.

Police arrested ABS employee Christopher Russell Hill, 24, and his friend, NAB staff member Lukas James Kamay, on Friday after monitoring foreign exchange trades made by Mr Kamay during the week.

Mr Hill faces charges of insider trading and receiving a corrupt benefit, and is expected to face court on Saturday.

Mr Kamay appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on charges of insider trading, corruption of a public official and money laundering.

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Police allege Mr Hill, who worked in Canberra at the time of the suspicious trades, sent unreleased employment, trade and retail data to his friend Mr Kamay in Melbourne.

The pair, understood to be friends from university, then used the sensitive information to ''predict fluctuations in the Australian dollar'', federal police said.

Foreign exchange broker Pepperstone Financial said it reported Mr Kamay to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission shortly after he made his first trade on August 13 last year.

''We called ASIC and they referred us to the AFP, and we've been in constant dialogue with them since then,'' Pepperstone chief executive Owen Kerr said.

''The AFP asked us not to terminate his account – they wanted to track his behaviour.

''They were able to look live [at his trades] and track his withdrawals to his NAB account.''

Mr Kerr said he believed Mr Kamay had accounts at other brokers, in Australia or overseas.

''He was getting in a microsecond before the announcement. There was no downside for him.''

According to Mr Kamay's LinkedIn profile, he graduated from Loyola College and has a commerce degree from Monash University.

His profile says he joined NAB in September 2011 after a stint at JBWere as an intern and analyst.

They said Mr Kamay did not use any funds or systems from NAB.

ABS data is strictly monitored and issued to the market at exactly 11.30am on any given day.

The data is market sensitive as it gives the latest snapshot of the economy and is used to inform market participants who are making daily trades.

ASIC said movements in the Australian dollar "directly or indirectly" affected the whole economy and reflected the serious nature of the allegations.

"The integrity of this market is a fundamental importance to all Australians,’’ ASIC's head of market enforcement Chris Savundra said. The suspicious trades are alleged to have occurred between August and May this year.

The ABS in a statement described Mr Hill as a ''relatively junior officer with trusted access to a number of economic collections''.

It said no other ABS staff were suspected of involvement.

''The ABS unequivocally regards unauthorised disclosure of embargoed statistics as a criminal act and an appalling breach of trust,'' it said in a statement.

''The ABS is committed to maintaining a strict embargo for the release of statistics to ensure no one can obtain an inappropriate advantage from early access.''

NAB said the charges did not relate to Mr Kamay's work at the bank.

Police raided eight properties, including the men's homes and workplaces in Canberra and Melbourne.

They seized $7 million worth of assets, including $500,000 in property, $6.5 million in bank accounts and a $15,000 car.

Although it was probable other investors were affected by the alleged crimes, more investigations would need to be carried out to measure that impact, police said.

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